Report - Scratch for Beginners - EU Code week
On Saturday, October 6th. 2018, 11 kids and their parents were present at the African Impulse EU Code week workshop "Scratch for beginners". The workshop started with an introduction to the importance of computers in our lives. The president of African Impulse, Clement Nkamanyi, an IT Engineer, who led the workshop, painted a good picture of the evolution of computers from the very first one to our current day mobile phones and tablets. The importance of recognizing that these computers have come to be a part of our lives and would continue to play a greater role in the future was emphasized. The kids were made to understand the importance of not only being a user of the technology but also to be designers of these.
An introduction to programming was made, in which the important parts of a program (Controls, data, events etc) were explained in a way that the kids easily understood and found interesting.
The next part of the workshop was very interesting. It became practical. Although there were many computers in the room, the importance of team work was emphasized. The kids sat in groups of two or three on a computer and could follow up the scratch assignments which were projected on the projector. You could imagine the joy the kids had not only creating their own games, but also playing them.
At the end of the workshop, links to all materials were distributed to the kids so that they could continue to study while at home. They were all encouraged to attend the next workshop Calliope mini for beginners which will see them programming a device. Throughout the workshop, the kids had snacks and drinks and were supervised by other African impulse members - Ignatius Kofete, Commy Manka, Nzoyem Sheila Kahtita.
Some impressions of the kids
"It was fun and and I learnt a lot""I enjoyed the fact that we could do it practically"
"I find scractch interesting, funny and nice"
"It was really something new and and very very interesting"
The EU Code Week is a grassroots initiative which aims to bring coding and digital literacy to everybody in a fun and engaging way. You can find complete details of this and other programs on the EU code week website
View some pictures of the workshop
